I Am the Vine
(many of the ideas in this message come from various messages at sermon central with the same or similar title, contributed by K. Edward Skidmore, SC Smead, and Douglas Phillips)
Scripture: John 15:1-8
This is the seventh of our series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus in John’s gospel.
All of the I AM statements were connected with an event going on around Jesus at the time. And he uses those events, as opportunities to teach his disciples about God, and about who he, himself is.
o In John 6 Jesus fed over 5,000 people. Right after that miracle --- He told them: I AM the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never Thirst. John 6:35
o Jesus and his Disciples were at the Temple to celebrate the Festival of Lights when Jesus announced, I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. John 8:12
o They were looking out over hills where shepherds herded their sheep when Jesus said: I AM the gate (for the sheep); whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. John 10:9
o He went on to say, I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11
o Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he declared: I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. John 11:25
o At the Last Supper, Jesus warned his apostles about his coming arrest and death. The Apostles couldn’t understand what he meant. Finally, Thomas exclaimed: We don’t know where you’re going, Jesus! How can we possibly know the way? Jesus took that opportunity to teach them: I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
(- K. Edward Skidmore)
It’s clear that Jesus used every-day events as a springboard for teaching eternal truths.
Here, Jesus says, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.” In verse 5, Jesus tells his disciples, (and in telling his disciples, he’s telling us) you are the branches.
A little history - the grapevine was an important part of the life of Israel. In Psalm 80, Israel is referred to as a grapevine. The 1st Century historian, Josephus, details Herod’s temple as having a huge cluster of gold grapes hanging around the outside of the temple. He wrote, “Under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height. The largeness and the workmanship of which were an astonishing sight to the spectators.”
It’s said that when someone wanted to pay honor to another person, they would pay to have another grape added to the golden cluster on Herod’s temple. It was very expensive so it became a badge of honor to be able to afford the tribute. Still, the Jews took great pride in this and saw it as a symbol of their nation.
So in the Old Testament, and in their culture, the vine represented Israel. In Isaiah, Israel is referred to as the vine that produced wild grapes - because of their rebellion and sinfulness.
So we can think of Israel as the grapevine of the Past.
In this passage in John, Jesus says he is the grapevine. So today, Jesus is the vine. Jesus is the grapevine of the Present.
If you look at Revelation 14, you’ll find these words, Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
So the FUTURE vine, symbolizes the earth in the last days ripe for God’s judgement and wrath.
So the earth is the grapevine of the Future.
Looking at the past then, we find that Israel was not the true vine - Israel was not fruitful. And the future vine - the earth - is not the true vine, it will receive the full extent of God’s wrath at the judgement.
It’s HERE, in the present - that we find the TRUE grapevine - Jesus. A true vine, produces branches, and the branches produce fruit.
The 8 verses we just read, if you look at it there, you will notice twice, Jesus says, “I am the grapevine,” or “I am the vine.” In the first case, verse 1, Jesus says, “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.”
In the second instance, verse 5, Jesus says, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.”
In both cases, Jesus refers to himself as the vine, but in the first case, Jesus talks about the action of the GARDENER, His father, in relation to Jesus as the vine, where the BRANCHES are concerned.
And in the second instance, Jesus refers to himself AGAIN as the vine, but in this case, he’s referring to the action of the BRANCHES in relation to Jesus as the vine, in producing FRUIT.
So we have the action of the Gardener, in relation to the vine. And we have the action of the Branches, in relation to the vine.
Let’s look first at the action of the Gardener.
1. The Gardener lifts up the branches that do not produce fruit.
Now I know, your translations likely all say “cuts off”. But look at the verse closely, it says, he cuts off every branch OF MINE - the NIV says, IN ME - the Greek NT says, “he takes it” - that’s all it says. the word takes there, is the Greek word airo - and it has four different meanings:
a. It can mean to lift up, or Pick up.
b. It can mean to lift up figuratively - as in I lift up my eyes to the hills . . .
c. It can mean to lift up as to carry away
d. Or it can mean to remove.
Here’s what I think is going on here - grapes aren’t like squash or pumpkins - they can’t lay on the ground and develop normally. They have to hang.
The key here is that Jesus says the branches IN ME that do not produce fruit. Jesus is making it very clear that the branches ARE in the vine. Later on he talks about the branches that DO NOT remain in him, but these ones here in this first verse, he clearly says are IN HIM.
Here’s the thing - there are branches on a healthy grapevine that grow along the ground - they get covered with dirt and they’re shaded from the light of the sun. But they are alive - they are getting nourishment from the vine, but they’re not producing fruit. They are most often the younger shoots, or branches that have been knocked off the trellis for one reason or another. The Gardener, comes along and LIFTS - TAKES AWAY - these shoots from the dirt, washes them off, and lifts them back onto the trellis to the the light they need. So in this case, the branch is cleaned. It’s lifted up and trained - put on the trellis - where it CAN produce fruit.
How does that apply to us today. What’s the meaning of the metaphor.
In lifting us, as branches, up - God puts us in relationship with other believers - sisters and brothers IN CHRIST - IN the VINE.
Jesus is saying, we need each other. None of us can make it alone. This is the single most important thing that God does for us. Through salvation, God puts us in the BODY - that’s the VINE - and the BODY is THE CHURCH - he puts us in loving relationship with other Christians - and then we grow - we produce fruit.
I know you’ve heard me say this before, and I’ll likely be saying it ’til the day I die. We live in a culture whose deepest idolatry is individualism. It’s been that way for a long time. It’s expressed in the epitome of Frank Sinatra’s “I did it my way.”
We often even come to church as individuals - looking for what satisfies ME instead of what brings glory to God. We come to GET something out of the worship instead of WORSHIP the One who already GAVE us salvation!
Do a little experiment sometime, those of you who are interested in music - make a list of songs that DO NOT have “I” in them. Even in just the title. Find songs that focus totally and completely on God’s glory.
The great Hallelujah! Praise God!
Here’s what I believe - because I believe it’s what the Bible teaches us. You can’t NOT go to church - you can’t NOT fellowship, and NOT participate - and still be ON the trellis.
Now you may not have heard much preaching from this passage about the trellis - but the TRELLIS IS THE CHURCH! Jesus is the vine. The vine is ATTACHED TO the trellis, and branches that GO OUT from the vine, have to be ON the trellis, or they’re not going to produce fruit - they’ll end up on the ground, and get covered with dirt and have to be lifted up, or worse, they’ll drop off the vine and get thrown out. We’ll talk about that in just a minute.
The second thing the Gardener does is:
2. The Gardener PRUNES the branches that produce fruit.
This is the really tough one for us. Because even when we DO produce fruit - even when we’re ON the trellis and we’re producing bunches of good grapes, we get pruned.
One thing to keep in mind:
Pruning is not punishment.
Too often, especially with younger Christians, when they go through a hard time - when God doesn’t answer prayers the way WE want them answered, and it feels like we’ve been abandoned by God, or like God is angry at us, it’s gets interpreted as punishment.
Listen, JESUS TOOK our punishment ON THE CROSS!! Hallelujah!
PRUNING happens - and the circumstances may LOOK like punishment - but it’s pruning and pruning happens so that we can produce even better and more fruit than we are producing now.
Ron and I were just talking on Friday about how we really don’t particularly want to leave here. We like it here. But maybe, just maybe, we have to get out of the way so God can move FBC to its next great thing! To GOD be the glory. We both DID agree that if that’s the case, then we have to trust and to God BE the glory!
And pruning, even though it’s not punishment, it still hurts. The sap runs - tears flow, the branches are cut - the wounds are open. And then, as the future unfolds and we see the fruit of the pruning, and the GARDENER - look at verse 8 - the GARDENER gets the glory - then we understand, and we rest knowing HIS plan was for the best.
Branches left to themselves will sprawl in every every direction and produce huge canopies of shoots, leaves and branches, that shut out the light, and will eventually destroy itself. Unless the canopy if controlled, the vine will not produce much fruit.
But here’s an interesting twist on this, SC Smead says, “Pruning at first glance may seem to be counter-intuitive activity.
What is being pruned looks to everyone, but the vinedresser, like a very healthy vine, but it is, in fact, all show. It is not producing the BEST fruit that it can.
Smead goes on to say, “It seems to me that Jesus was concerned that the disciples might be facing this same problem. Jesus was not interested in showy disciples any more than he is interested in showy Christians in a post-modern world.”
So the Gardener lifts up the branches that are IN the VINE but not producing fruit, and the Gardener PRUNES the branches that are producing fruit so they can produce more fruit.
Now what about the branches. What about the action of the branches?
There are three actions mentioned here in verses 4-8 of the branches.
There are the branches who remain in the Vine.
There are the branches who do not remain in the Vine.
There are branches that produce MUCH fruit.
First,
There are the branches that remain in the vine.
And THOSE branches produce much fruit. We’ll look at that in just a minute. What does it mean to remain in the vine? Pretty obvious isn’t it? Remain connected. Stay FEEDING on the nourishment from the vine. You can’t carry ANY metaphor too far, but as branches, our responsibility is to remain or ABIDE in the vine.
Jesus wouldn't tell us to remain in him if it was impossible for us to do. The wording of that sentence implies a condition: that if we remain in Jesus, he will remain in us.
The Greek word translated 'remain' means to abide or to dwell. Jesus abides with us, and dwells in us. It’s the same word that is used in Romans 8:9, “You are controlled by the Spirit if you have Spirit of God LIVING - DWELLING - REMAINING - in you.
So we remain in Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
So as the Spirit remains in US, WE remain in THE VINE.
There are the branches who remain in the Vine and
2. There are the branches who do NOT remain in the Vine.
Verse 6: Anyone who doe not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.” Again, Romans 8:9 “(And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
In verse 2 we saw branches that remained IN the vine and either produced fruit or didn’t. HERE are branches who do NOT REMAIN in the vine.
They do not REMAIN - so we know that at one time they were IN the vine. They once had the source of life flowing within them. They HAVE produced fruit in the past but now now. They are now not getting their sustenance from the TRUE VINE - they’re getting their life from temporary things - the lies of sin - what is it 1 John 2:16 says - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - these are not from the Father but are from the world. And pretty soon THOSE branches wither and become brittle and malnourished and they drop off the vine - they’re gathered up and thrown into the fire.
Finally,
3. There are the branches that produce MUCH fruit.
Verse 8. True disciples produce much fruit. Jesus told them he is the TRUE vine. Now he’s telling them if they are TRUE disciples, they will produce much fruit and it will bring glory to the father.
Remember, the Father is the Gardener. Have you ever eaten a bunch of luscious, delicious grapes, and
wondered what it was that THE GRAPE did to taste so good?
Did you think, “Man! These grapes are SO good, I wonder what the BRANCHES did to make these grapes so good.
Of course not - we wonder instead about the skill of the Gardener. The tender loving care of the Gardener. It’s the Gardener who gets the glory when branches produce good grapes.
See, there are two kinds of fruit. There is fruit that brings glory to the Father and there is fruit that doesn’t.
Have you ever bit into a piece of fruit that looked really delicious and found it was the sourest thing you ever tasted? BAD fruit!
And you can bite into a piece of fruit that looks EXACTLY the same as that sour piece and your taste buds put on happy hats, for such a satisfying, delicious taste. GOOD fruit!
What’s the difference? Being attached to the true vine.
Listen to what God says about fruit bearing in the NT: Matthew 21:43 (NIV) Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Matthew 12:33 (NIV) Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.
Matthew 7:16-18 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good trees cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (NIV)
Let’s pray.
